Monday, October 31, 2011

Halloween Blog Hop and Interview with J. D. Stroube

This officially marks the end of the Halloween Blog Hop. It is Halloween after all. Today my special guest is J. D. Stroube. Please give her your warmest cackles and best chain rattling.

As you know I'm going to ask you some questions, so here goes...1) Have you ever used a Ouji board or other device to contact the dead?Yes! I tried it with my mother and sister once and they tried to convince me that it was really moving on it's own, but I didn't believe them. 2) What’s the fastest way to kill a vampire or werewolf?Hmmm... with a vampire... get the darn thing to chase you out into the sunlight and he will go poof. Werewolf... Climb a tree with a sniper rifle and take aim with a silver bullet. Although, I would probably be squeamish about killing either. I don't even kill spiders and I am afraid of them!3) Out of all the undead creatures out there which one would you like to be and why?I would want to be a vampire because I would be fast, strong, and immortal. I would love to see the world and how it changes throughout the centuries! 4) What was your favorite Halloween prank?I never had one, because I never pulled pranks. :(5) What three supplies would you store for the Apocalypse?Are we talking the biblical kind? Something that is taking out humans? I'm not sure that this would be considered a supply, but I would have myself a nice little underground bomb shelter. That way I could hang out in there and read until it's over with. Assuming that is included, I would have food and water. Although a weapon would be nice too.

Tell us about your novel

A witch raised in a cage of darkness...

Savannah Cross was born into a life of isolation and abuse. As a child, she witnessed her parents perform acts of malevolent evil, and now feels permanently tainted by their dark deeds.

When a coven discovers a tear stricken child, wounded on their elders lawn, they offer her a sanctuary she has never known. Savannah spends the next several years shattered, continuously looking over her shoulder, waiting for the darkness to claim her.

On her 16th birthday, Savannah’s life takes a drastic turn.She is consumed by overwhelming power that forever alters her emotionally and physically.

She must choose between two loves; the one who taught her to smile or the darkly seductive stranger who tempts her towards another path. Savannah must decide between the coven that was her haven and another one vying for her initiation. Just as Savannah begins to grasp what fate has in store for her, an evil looms over her loved ones; coming to claim an unbreakable debt. How will she choose and survive the greatest evil she has ever witnessed... long enough to have a choice to make?

So what inspired you to write such a novel?
My whole life I have been a dreamer. I would stay awake at night and daydream about other worlds and what it would be like to live in them. When I am asleep, I tend to have lucid dreams, which are complete plots to a book. I often write these dreams down, as ideas for future book. I have a dream journal designated for this purpose. Sometimes I find my ideas, while watching a show or reading a book. The idea for “Caged in Darkness” came to me, while browsing the Goodreads website for a new book. I had a strong urge to read a book about witches, but most of the books I came across did not satisfy my craving. Instead, I wrote down a plot for the kind of book I wished I could find. I then incorporated some other unique aspects to it and created a recipe for what I believe is an amazing series!

I understand you have some quoted passages from "Caged in Darkness?"The day I first came to Meadow Falls is little more than a dream, though that little girl plagues me everyday. I still hear her crying out, and my skull fractures as pain is inflicted on her. She remained frozen in an eternal chamber of torture, and I did not know how to help her escape. Though, I would never escape her. She would follow me around for the rest of my life; a ghost waiting in the wings for me to acknowledge her. Her soft trailing fingers would continue to attempt a connection that I refused to allow; that I couldn’t allow if I wanted to survive. That ghostly girl was weak and insecure, while I needed to be strong and confident.

"What you are or where you came from is not important. It is who you are and the choices you make, that determine who you will become. If you can look inward and be satisfied, the opinions of others should melt away."

"All that is left to bring you pain, are the memories. If you face those, you’ll be free. You can’t spend the rest of your life hiding from yourself; always afraid that your memories will incapacitate you, and they will if you continue to bury them."

"No one has freewill until they are an adult, and by then the choices that were made for them, have already set them on a course that gives limited freedom in the choices to be made."

So tell us a little bit more about J. D. Stroube.
J.D. Stroube is a debut author, who is coming out with her first novel on August 1st. Caged will be her first series. J.D. will be coming out with three more series and a stand alone novel within the next year and a half. She is a psychology major, who attends Roosevelt University and intends to open her own practice in the future. She lives in Naperville with her husband and is extremely close to her family. She began telling people stories when she was three years old. Although, those stories mostly consisted of scribbles on the back of menus. She began writing short stories at age six and her first novel at 12, which was a horror story that was accidentally tossed with the trash.

Where can my readers get a copy of this awesome novel?
My book is available in paperback through Amazon. It's also available in ebook format through B&N, Amazon, Smashwords, etc.